Many private institutions of higher education around the country are in danger. Not all will be saved, andperhaps not all deserve to be saved. There are low-quality schools just as there are low-quality business.We have no obligation to save them simply because they exist.
But many thriving institutions that deserve to continue are threatened. They are doing a fine job educationally, but they are caught in a financial squeeze, with no way to reduce rising costs or increase revenuessignificantly. Raising tuition doesn’t bring in more revenue, for each time tuition goes up, the enrollment goes down, or the amount that must be given away in student aid goes up. Schools are bad businesses, whether public or private, not usually because of mismanagement but because of the nature of the enterprise.They lose money on every customer, and they can go bankrupt either from too few students or too many students. Even a very good college is a very bad business.
It is such colleges, thriving but threatened, I worry about. Low enrollment is not their chief problem. Even with full enrollments, they may go under. Efforts to save them, and preferably to keep them private, are a national necessity. There is no basis for arguing that private schools are inherently (固有地)better than public schools. Examples to the contrary abound. Anyone can name state universities and colleges that rank as the finest in the nation and the world. It is now inevitable that public institutions will be dominant, and therefore diversity is a national necessity. Diversity in the way we support schools tends to give us a healthy diversity in the forms of education. In an imperfect society such as ours, uniformity of education throughout the nation could be dangerous. In an imperfect society, diversity is a positive good. Enthusiastic supporters of public higher education know the importance of sustaining private higher education.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1.According to the authors opinion, schools are bad businesses because of _______.
A. mismanagement
B. too few students
C. financial squeeze
D. their characteristics
2.The author used the phrase “go under" in Para. 3 to mean "_______".
A. get into difficulties
B. have low enrollment
C. have little money
D. bring in more money
3.We can reasonably conclude from this passage that the author made an appeal to the public in order to support_____
A. public institution
B. private schools
C. uniformity of education
D. diversity of education
4.Which of the following is NOT mentioned about private schools?
A. High-quality private schools deserve to be saved.
B. If the tuition of the private schools is raised, the enrollment goes down.
C. There are many cases to show that public schools are better than private schools.
D. Private schools are more profitable than public schools.
5.Which of the following ways could possibly save private schools?
A. Raising tuition.
B. Full enrollment.
C. National awareness and support.
D. Reduction of rising costs.
答案：
1.[D]
2.[A]
3.[B]
4.[D]
5.[C]
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